We build the lasting character and resiliency of young people, creating unique life experiences in a challenging and nurturing natural environment.

"Great things happen when youth and mountains meet." – Frank H. Cheley

We believe that every summer in a young person's life is a window of opportunity.

Campers looking for a summer adventure camp, mountain summer camp, or a sports summer camp will find Cheley intertwines all of this into an experience of a lifetime. Summer camp is a time of fun and friendship, of physical challenge and thrilling adventure. It's a chance to step out of your routine and connect with the natural world. Most campers say that Cheley changes them. You feel more solid, focused, and engaged in life. Living in the great outdoors, surrounded by mountain peaks, ancient rocks, and huge ponderosa pines makes you feel more alive, more connected, more in touch with your best self.

Making friends is part of a great camp experience, along with trying new things and testing your limits. You probably have activities that you can't wait to try, like river rafting or technical climbing. If you were here last year, you might have new goals for the coming summer. Maybe you're motivated to earn a riding patch, to hike a higher peak, or go on a 3-day backpacking trip. This mountain summer camp provides options from standup paddleboarding to mountain biking.

Each year, campers come from over 40 states and at least 10 foreign countries. You will create friends from around the globe. Many campers form friendships here that last for years. A lot of our campers and counselors return to Cheley year after year, which is why the place has the warm, familiar feeling of family at this gorgeous mountain summer camp. There is so much history at Cheley. It's the campers, staff, and year-round team that makes Cheley one of Colorado's top-rated summer camps every year. Coming to camp starts to feel like you're coming home to a special place that doesn't exist anywhere else in your life. For information about our Sessions, Enrollment, and Tuition, please visit Dates and Rate

Our 27-day program is divided into four units for boys and four units for girls. This setup ensures a smaller camp feel and individualized attention. Each camp unit is 57 to 70 campers in size with thirteen to sixteen staff. Check out the videos below for information on each of our units. For information on our Sessions, Tuition, and Enrollment, please visit Dates and Rates.

Quarter-B-4, our 5-night program, is divided into a unit for seven and eight-year-olds (the Pikas) and another unit for nine and ten-year-olds (the Marmots). Each program has about 60 campers.  

Family Camp is a 5-night program for families ages 6 and up. Check out the video or the link for Family Camp info 

The eight units for our 27-day program are organized according to age and gender:

Three girls’ camps named Lower Chipeta (9-11 yrs), Chipeta (12-13 yrs), and Senior Chipeta (14-17 yrs) 

Three boys’ camps named Lower Ski Hi (9-11 yrs), Ski Hi (12-13 yrs), and Haiyaha (14-17 yrs), are all located at Land O’ Peaks Ranch, 4 miles south of Estes Park.

Additionally, Girls' Trail's End (12-17 yrs) and Boys' Trail's End (12-17 yrs) are located on a ranch 12 miles east of Estes Park. They’re all terrific camps that offer the same excellent program staffed by our enthusiastic counselors. 

Don't forget to see our Specialty Camps as well.

The Pikas

 A 5-night camp experience. Campers will fish, climb, practice target sports, cookout, hike, explore nature, sing, dance, play and build confidence as they gain Independence. 

The Marmots

A 5-night camp experience. Campers will technical climb, ride horses, Outcamp, fish, practice target sports, cookout, hike, explore nature, sing, dance, play and build confidence as they gain independence.

Family Camp

Nestled in the heart of Colorado’s Mountain Wonderland, Cheley is a special place to experience the unique opportunities that the great outdoors has to offer. At the overwhelming requests of adults and families to experience Cheley Colorado Camps, in 1985 we started Family Camp so families can capture the magic of summer camp together.

Families with children age 6 and older can experience our Family Camp for five days of quality family time. At our Boys' Trail's End Ranch, located a few miles from Estes Park near Glen Haven, Family Camp occurs in August after our regular summer season concludes. The setting – and experience – is both rustic and beautiful. Sleeping accommodations are covered wagons, which will sleep a family of four, but arrangements for larger families can easily be made. Each wagon has drawers and hanging space. Bathhouse facilities, which families share, are located within close proximity to the wagons. Boys' Trail's End Ranch also has its own lodge with a huge fireplace, dining room, riflery and archery ranges, craft shop, a string of 30 horses, and a beautiful stream.

Families can choose to spend the day together riding horses or might head to Rocky Mountain National Park for a day hike while the children stay in camp and participate in crafts or riflery. A special childcare program is available for campers eight and younger. At night, everyone will meet in the dining room for a wonderful family-style meal. After dinner, the counselors will promote the next day's activities and campers will sign up for what they want to do the next day. Each day concludes with an evening campfire: a highlight of which is watching each group perform a skit demonstrating what they did that day. The laughter each night during campfire is contagious and prepares you for a good night’s sleep full of wonderful dreams. You wake up the next day ready to do it all over again. Family Camp is very popular and always fills, so we recommend enrolling early! 

Gain confidence and learn to trust yourself by experiencing the great Colorado Outdoors

Backpacking

Picture yourself leaning against your backpack. Your tent is setup.  Your sleeping bag is laid out. This is home for the next two nights. You feel that sense of accomplishment that comes with carrying everything you need to survive for multiple days in the wilderness. Maybe you are camping at Michigan Lakes at treeline as you look up at Static and Richtofen peaks. Or you are at the Battle Mountain campground in the shadow of Longs Peak. Wherever home is tonight, it will be spent under the stars with your friends. 

For many campers, backpacking is one of the most rewarding activities at camp. Campers learn teamwork as they share the load. They learn perseverance as they challenge themselves along the trail. They build a small community on each trip that works together towards the common good. The conversations that happen in the backcountry are the ones you remember for a lifetime.

Campfires

Create friendships. Celebrate accomplishments. The evening summer camp campfire is a great way to seal the bonds that begin during a day of physical challenge in the magnificent outdoors. Every day concludes with an evening program that provides closure with your friends after an active day. Your body is tired, your spirits lifted. It’s time to let go and connect with the peacefulness and sense of accomplishment that come with nightfall.

Climbing

Cheley is a Colorado climbing summer camp, backpacking summer camp, and much more. Thanks to our location next to Rocky Mountain National Park, Cheley campers have easy access to terrific climbing sites that accommodate various levels of difficulty and expertise. Our program includes a climbing wall and several well-known climbing sites throughout the Estes Park Valley. The climbing wall allows climbers to practice smaller holds and overhang techniques. The outdoor sites provide greater vertical gains in varying degrees of difficulty, paired with the inspiring beauty of snow-covered peaks.

Colts

There are so many lessons you can learn in working with a young horse. The Cheley colts program is focused on nurturing and connecting with animals. Animals, like people, respond when they can feel that someone cares about them. We work with these colts with a goal of someday adding them to our riding string. A day at colts may include grooming, introducing tack to the horse, walking them around, and much more. The values of compassion, understanding and patience are always a part of working with young horses. Some days they are ready for a breakthrough and other days they can be stubborn and difficult. 

Crafts

Fishing

The world slows down when you are fishing. The rhythm of the cast, the slow reeling in of your bait, the ripples on the water. Campers learn patience as the work to catch a fish, they learn connection as they visit on the shoreline, and they gain appreciation for nature’s beauty. Our spring-fed ponds and streams are stocked with rainbow trout waiting for the challenge.

Outcamping

Backpacking to an overnight destination isn’t the only way to enjoy camping at Cheley. Cheley offers a Colorado outcamping summer camp program to camp out under the stars. We transport groups to beautiful campsites for two and three-day stays in wooded seclusion on Cheley property. There are several campsites to choose from, each with its unique personality and special features, including Gypsy Grounds, Teepee Village, Rockstock, Outpost, and Upper Wagon Yard.

Rafting

Spend a summer at an adventure camp and swirl through the waters of Poudre Canyon, surrounded by exquisite granite walls, shimmering aspen, and mighty ponderosa pines. One of the most popular rafting sites in the Rocky Mountain region, the Poudre River offers quite the summer camp rafting adventure along with stunning natural beauty at any time of the year. Cheley is a Colorado summer camp with rafting and an assortment of fun-filled and challenging outdoor activities.

Horseback Riding

As one of the premier horseback riding camps in the country, Cheley Camps has over 140 horses ready to ride. Imagine trotting or cantering around the ring on your favorite horse. You are living in the moment. You are completely connected with this 2,000-pound animal. Or maybe you are hanging out in the hay manger as the horses eat around you. Your jeans are filthy but you have a huge smile on your face.  

A love of horses is part of the lure, but so are the backcountry riding trails, the healthy, robust horses and the caring, knowledgeable staff who provide instruction in good horsemanship and many other facets of caring for horses. Here at Cheley summer camp, horseback riding is among one of the campers’ favorite activities. 

Sports

Sports at Cheley may look like the sports you’re used to, but chances are they are a lot more fun and less competitive. An enthusiastic sports counselor, beautiful facilities and a variety of equipment make for a team-building sports camp program that promises hours of rambunctious fun for every participant.

Stand-up Paddleboarding

There is nothing like spending a day on the water to help you relax in the middle of the summer. Campers will head down to Union Reservoir for a morning or afternoon of paddleboarding. When you are not on the water, you will hang out on the beach, play football, swim, or just relax by the water. Campers always return from a day at the reservoir a bit more calm, more connected, and happier.

We partner with Rocky Mountain Paddleboard to help campers learn the skills and techniques of effective paddling. You learn balance, strengthen your upper body, and laugh with your fellow campers as you play on the water. You will play games, build a tower of boards, or run across a line of paddleboards. Just one more way to connect with your fellow campers from around the world. 

Target Sports

If you’re drawn to activities that fine-tune your ability to focus, target sports just might be your ticket to personal challenge and accomplishment. Every Cheley unit has access to a rifle and archery range, which makes for convenient target practice when you’re ready to zero in on your concentration skills.